MUNICH TRIVIA

                                                  Fun to Know

In 1810 Ludwig I married and threw a big party, and Octoberfest has been held here in late September- early October ever since.

Each year 110 million gallons of beer are brewed in Munich and 70-80% of it is consumed in the city. The drinking age is 16 for beer and wine, 18 for anything harder. Interestingly beer is considered liquid bread and is taxed as bread not as alcohol

The Lowenbrau brewery cellars are under the street.

Benedictine monks were here in 970.

Bavaria is spelled Bayern in German

Bavaria is the largest state in the Federated Republic of Germany, and is about the size of Montana. Located in the southeast part of the country it occupies about one-fifth of Germany’s acreage.

Munich became the capitol of Bavaria in 13^th century. Prior to that Regensburg was the capitol.

Nymphenburg, the summer palace was the King’s gift to his wife in 1664 for delivering a son. The Wittelsbach dynasty ruled Bavaria for 738 years, until 1918. The Palace is a half-mile long and basically circular. It is symmetrical with equal buildings mirrored on each side and took 150 years to finish. There are 500 acres of park in the back. When the family came here they hardly came alone considering they brought 500 horses and 1000 servants.

Ludwig I sent his son, Otto, to Greece where he ruled for 30 years, thus the Greek influence on the local architecture. Museums are housed in many of the buildings

All the high rises are in the suburbs because a city ordinance prohibits any building being taller than Our Lady Church. There are 210 churches in the city.

Don’t miss the opera house or the famous glockenspiel at city hall.

MUNICH TRIVIA

                     MUNICH  (MUCHEN)

            Munich, with a population of 1.3 million, is a popular destination, so I’ll just relate a few tid bits of information you may not know. The capitol of Bavaria is in one of Germany’s sixteen states.

            Bavaria is the largest state in the Federated Republic of Germany, and is about the size of Montana. Located in the southeast part of the country it occupies about one-fifth of Germany’s acreage. Munich became the capitol of Bavaria in 13^th century. Prior to that Regensburg was the capitol.

             In 1810 Ludwig I married and threw a big party, and Octoberfest has been held in late September / early October ever since.

            Each year 110 million gallons of beer are brewed in Munich and 70-80% of it is consumed in the city. The drinking age is 16 for beer and wine, 18 for anything harder. Interestingly beer is considered liquid bread and is taxed as bread, not as alcohol.  We were told the Lowenbrau brewery’s cellars are under the street.

            BMW stands for Bavarian Motor Works. In 1916 they produced aircraft engines, in 1928 they added automobiles. A car  rolls off the  production line every 90 seconds---and only after it is ordered! Their home office is a three cylindrical building that is full of windows. The BMW tower at 950 feet high is visible from afar. It resembles the space needle, and a revolving restaurant is at 650 feet.

            The  Nymphenburg Baroque summer palace and home of previous kings  was the King’s gift to his wife in 1664 for delivering a son. The Wittelsbach dynasty ruled Bavaria for 738 years, until 1918. The Palace is a half-mile long and is symmetrical with equal buildings mirrored on each side. It took 150 years to finish the Palace. There are 500 acres of park in the back. When the family moved to Munich they hardly came alone considering they brought 500 horses and 1000 servants!

             A local docent told us, “The city has 50 museums and 70 theaters. The population has doubled since the end of the war, and 80% of the apartments are new. All the high rise buildings are in the suburbs because an ordinance prohibits any building taller than Our Lady Church. There are 210 churches in the city.”

The Opera House Pennies Built        

            Munich’s Opera House, built 200 years ago, was the largest at that time. Unfortunately it burned five years later, and  there was no money to replace it. So the people paid an extra penny for each beer and soon there was enough money to finance the present building. It seats 2000 people and employs 1000 people.  There  is a rule that no opera will be performed on any two successive days.

A Glockenspiel          

            I’ve seen many unique clocks in my travels, and someday I’ll gather them all for one post. So I was anxious to see the one in Munich. Just before lunch we hurried  to Maria Square where we joined a large crowd gathered to watch the 10-minute performance of the glockenspiel at noon. It is located in the tower of the new City Hall, which looks like a large Gothic church. It plays at 11:00 AM (we missed that one) and again at noon. The figures in the 1908 clock are about six feet tall. The bells ring first, then the figures move around in a circle. It is over when the rooster at the top flaps its wings and crows three times.

MUST SEE SITES

DON'T MISS THESE SITES

Ha’Penny Bridge

Dublin’s oldest pedestrian bridge crossing the River Liffey falls in the must see category.  A symbol of the city, it was built in 1816 as the Wellington Bridge, but acquired its nickname because of the halfpenny levied on all who crossed the bridge until 1919. It is one of the earliest cast iron bridges of its kind.  A 2001 restoration returned the Victorian Bridge to its original sparkling white. Several bridges cross the river that handle vehicular traffic, but the ha’penny was the only pedestrian bridge across the Liffey until 2000 when the new Millennium Bridge opened. The historic bridge is very pretty and to me much more attractive than the modern Millennium Bridge.

Hungarian Puszta

            At the Puszta horse show outside Budapest Magyar cowboys demonstrated their equestrian skills. The entertainment started with a horse parade, followed by all sorts of exercises that were once practiced for wartime. For example, riders taught their horses to sit or lie down providing a smaller target or protection for the rider during battle. A boy on a small burro provided comical contrast to the magnificent steeds. The highlight of the show was when a cowboy completed a complicated twist to the Hungarian five-horse racing, more commonly known as the "Puszta-fiver". Standing on the rear ends of the back two horses the cowboy controlled eight horses with his reins!  It was amazing.

Munich’s Glockenspiel

We hurried to Maria Square where in the tower of the new City Hall, which looked like a big Gothic church, the glockenspiel plays at 11:00 AM and at noon. We’d missed the 11 AM showing and did not want to miss it again. We joined a large crowd gathered to watch the 10-minute performance.

The figures in the 1908 clock are about six feet tall. The bells ring first, then the figures move around in a circle. It is over when the rooster at the top crows three times. I expected the rooster to come forward when it crowed, but instead it flapped its wings. The bells needed a little tuning, but it was fun to watch anyway.

            I’ve seen and watched several of these old clocks and always admire the workmanship involved and the ‘performance’.